April 27, 2018 — Students in the Collision Repair program have been working this school year on refurbishing a corvette that belongs to the Lorain County Sheriff's Office. This has been a work of passion for two senior students specifically, Marco Gonzales from Elyria and Megan Rehm from Amherst.

"The car looked pretty good when it came in, but we were excited to work on it," said Rehm. "We started the project by taking off all the decals, and then took the doors, the interior, door trim and mirrors off and started to sand it," Gonzales stated. Rehm continued, "After we sanded it, we primed it, sanded the primer, and then painted it. We also washed and waxed it about five times!"

Lonnie Higey, JVS Collision Repair Instructor, shared that the corvette was delivered to the collision repair lab back in October and Gonzales and Rehm have spent countless hours bringing new life to an old beauty.

Lorain County Sheriff, Phil R. Stammitti, and numerous members of his office, came to the JVS campus on Friday, April 20th to acknowledge the work that the students did on refurbishing the corvette.

"The students did a beautiful job on this car and we appreciate everything they have done," said Sheriff Stammitti. He also shared with the students his plan for the corvette. "We want to use this corvette in parades and in our D.A.R.E. program because this car is an eye-catcher and if the kids see this car, then it opens the door for them to come in and start a conversation with us."

When asked what the most difficult part of the project was, Gonzales and Rehm agreed it was the hood. "We were stuck on the hood for a little while," shared Rehm.

"It was dented in, so we put a whole sheet of metal on top, glued it down with Bondo and then we had to sand it all down, prime it and then paint it. It was a lot of work but it turned out great," said Gonzales.

Grant Koba-Nelson, Vehicle Maintenance Coordinator for the Lorain County Sheriff's Office, and Lorain County JVS 1990 Auto Technology Alum, commented that working on these types of vehicles is an artwork. "Repairing panels on new cars is almost just a 'remove and replace' type job, but with a vehicle like this, it isn't that simple. It takes a lot of finesse, and these students did a great job."

Higey stated how much he appreciated the Sheriff allowing his students to practice and work on such a special vehicle. JVS Superintendent, Dr. Glenn Faircloth, shared what a great job JVS High School Principal, Jill Petitti does in making sure the instructors have what they need in their labs to complete work like this.

"The kind of craftsmanship that our instructor is teaching these young people is extraordinary," said Faircloth. "I happen to be a car guy so I know and understand what goes into these particular types of things, but these are young people, and I think this work is outstanding."

"This would not have been possible without the JVS. This is going to be such a great thing for us and I just really want to say thank you," said Sheriff Stammitti.